Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-09-29
ON THE WAY.
Experiences of the ExcursiOnists
to st. Louis.

| to st. Louis.
| LAS VEGAS, N. M, Sept. %, 1887.
| Arrived at this place, where We
were booked to stay ten hours, sever
hours behind time. Two sections o
our company are several hours behinc
us. 1t was at first decided that al
who wished, should go to the Springs
six miles distant, and return at "a. M
on our journey together. The Sar
Francisco delegation lad already ar.
rived and gone to the Springs at
o'clock; but as the rain was pouring
down in torrents, it was finally de-
cided to remain on the track, and Sc
they who had set their hearts on being
at the ball had to swallow their dis
appointment as best they could.
There was little to break the m onot
ony after leaving San Bernardino till
we reached The Needles, except now
and then cheering by the crowds at
stations and occasional music from our
band. The ''tenderfoots" on board, got
some fun out OF the stakes, stuck in
the ground along the foothills, saying,
"Here's another city! This is the
most fertile country for raising town
lots we were ever in" They may live
long enough to see that these "town
lots" mean something, when in the
not very far distant future the whole
slope from Los Angeles to San Ber-
nardino will be city Of fine resi-
dences.
At one place the monotony was
broken by three-years-old child fall
ing from the window. As the cars
were not in motion no harm befell it,
but the crying of the child and the
terrible fright of the mother created a
commotion.
Three notable passengers did some
thing in the line of Willing away the
long dreary hours. They were en-
route like the rest of us, to do their
share in making an interesting time
in st. Louis. They are natives of
California. One is a huge turtle cap
tured at San Diego, somewhat smaller
than dining table. The other two
are beautiful birds from the American
Ostrich Company" West Fall Brook,
San Diego County, California, John
R. Campbell Superintendent, E. j.
johnson, General Manager. These
birds are less than two years old and
hence, but little more than half
grown, as they do not reach their
maturity till the age of four years.
The male now weighs It's pounds.
These three. passengers attract more
attention than any others, or all COM
bined. Their cages are made of inch
boards about four feet square and the
same in height, and yet the male
bird. tired of his prison home, scaled
the walls landing on his back in a
somewhat dilapidated condion, yet
without serious injury. They are,
contrary to the idea OF some, entirely
docile, but when free, use their heels
with wicked effect.
But the sight at the Needles! We
don't refer to the spire-like rocks on
the mountains ten or fifteen miles
away, nor to the reformation, the
most wonderful to be found anywhere,
covering the space of hundred miles
or 80 along the route, but to the ma
tives. If there is a more degraded,
brutalized, filthy, disgusting tribe of
human beings beneath heavens broad
canopy, We never heard of it. To see,
is to believe. Who is responsible for
allowing both male and female to
mingle with the crowd at the depot in
an almost entire state of nudity, is a
question asked by nearly every one,
but answered by none. We tried to
get some reliable information of the
history of these Indians, but failed.
One man who had lived four years at
the place, thought they numbered for
a distance of three hundred miles
along the line, nearly thousand.
We could not learn that any mission
aries had ever been sent among them
to civilize or Christiaze them. It is
surely an interesting question to those
giving their money to foreign missions,
whether something cannot be done
for these degraded wretches in our
very midst.
Descending into the valley of the
Rio Grande we find them of much
higher type, and cross on promi-
nent building in a dobe village indi-
Gates that they are looked after by the
Catholics. They must be as a race
very strong physically, for the passen-
gers were not a little amused by chill
dren-always girls-not more than
five years old, apparently, carrying
papooses at least year old, slung
across their little shoulders. At one
place, which some one quantity
named Papoose Valley, there were a
great many, and not an adult was
seen. They were doubtless out on
the chase, for the desert has given
way to grass-covered prairies, where
game abounds. QUI VIvE.